by Olivia Myers
"That'll be the day!" Kimi said good-naturedly.
Kyra frowned, suddenly looking concerned. Unlike Kimi, she was used to getting attention from various boys and men. Her pretty face, large breasts, slim figure, and long legs were her greatest physical assets. Many of them wanted to just sleep with her, but some actually pursued her for a serious relationship.
"Don't give me that look," Kimi warned.
"But Kimi, you're so smart and beautiful," Kyra argued. "Getting a boyfriend must be a cinch for you. Maybe you're just too picky."
No, they're picky, Kimi answered in her mind, mentally recalling the men she had slept with the past year. Not one of them had shown real interest in a relationship. Aloud, she told her sister, "Don't worry, Kyra. I'm in no hurry. And besides, this trip is just about my dream of visiting the Earth! It's going to do wonders for my career too, of course."
"Yes! Go, go, go!" Kyra cheered.
Kimi hugged her again before hurrying on toward the direction of the Space Port. She entered the metal double doors, then dashed through the hallway and up the steps leading to the large platform.
Scanning the area, she saw that everyone was present. She positioned herself beside Ned, making sure to let their shoulders brush from time to time, as they waited for Dr. Anderson to finish giving his final reminders and announcements. After Dr. Anderson was done with reminders, he said, "I'd like to introduce all of you to the person who will give you peace of mind and keep you safe and sound—Lee 5."
A very tall and muscular man came out from the ship's entrance. With his brushed-up ebony locks and ruggedly gorgeous appearance, modeling seemed to suit him better than being a cyborg security officer.
Kimi's insides churned when she got a good look at his face. Shit, it's him, she thought with a mix of irritation, apprehension, and anticipation. As her eyes swept over his stunning face, broad chest, thickset arms, and powerful legs, she couldn't help feeling that burning sensation beginning to spread across her body. When she glimpsed the bulge in between his legs underneath the armored robot-like suit he wore, she felt a stirring between her own legs.
"This guy's even bigger than the others," Ned whispered beside her.
She turned to Ned, startled. She had almost forgotten about him. At that exact moment, her physical attraction to him had shifted toward the handsome cyborg whose face showed no expression.
"Big is good," she breathed, suddenly imagining the cyborg’s body on top of hers. She quickly shook off that image and scolded herself in silence.
This cyborg spells out trouble, she thought as they all piled into the space ship.
Lee 5 was standing by the entrance of the ship as they passed. He gave her a blank nod as if he didn’t recognize her at all. She felt both annoyed and disappointed.
The ship that was to bring them to Planet Earth was spacious enough. Apart from the pilot's cockpit, there was a center cabin which also served as a pantry, with a makeshift kitchen consisting of a tall steel cabinet attached to the wall. The cabinet had drawers filled with utensils, and a medium-sized refrigerator which held all those instant frozen foods and other special nutrient pills. There were also two pull-outs that could double as working tables, in case the passengers had things to chop, mix, or prepare.
To the right was a large door that led to the laboratory. There were unbreakable test tubes, flasks, microscopes, and other supplies that could help with their ongoing studies during the mission. Furthermore, a freezer, heater, and other basic equipment were on standby, including several hologram computers which could be clicked on at any time they were needed. A long silver table with matching stools stood in the middle of the room.
On the left side of the cabin were three doors that opened to three separate pod-like bedrooms, and a fourth door leading to a bathroom. Each bedroom was furnished with two single beds affixed to one side, with one bed on top of the other. On the opposite side was a concealed storage area that could hold clothes and other personal items.
"All aboard?" Dr. Anderson's voice came from just outside of the entrance.
Kimi and the rest of the team all answered yes. He smiled at them then as he peeked inside. "Good luck and keep in touch. Have a safe journey!" he said before stepping out. Lee 5 closed and locked the door behind him.
Everyone was clad in all-white space suits. Kimi seemed to hold her breath as she put on her helmet like the others. Meanwhile, Tim Thompkins and his wife Raissa had disappeared into the cockpit to set the controls and prepare for take-off.
Soon enough, the space ship bound for Earth was gliding smoothly across outer space. In about five days, they would land on the original home of humankind.
***
During the first day, all Kimi did was eat and sleep. From time to time, she would cross paths with Lee 5, whose face remained blank. It was truly weird seeing the expression on his good-looking face and at the same time feeling the stirrings of lust shooting through her body whenever they accidentally brushed upon one another in the limited space of the ship.
On the second day, Kimi was half-floating, half-sitting on her bed with her electronic tablet which contained a library of her favorite science books. She was so engrossed in what she was studying that she hardly heard her roommate, Lia, come in.
"I kissed him, Kimi," she whispered, her giddy tone cutting through the silence of the room.
That made Kimi look up. She wondered who Lia was referring to. She truly hoped it wasn't Tim or Raissa might just shove Lia out the airlock! Moreover, it was kind of odd and surprising to hear nerdy Lia talking about making a move on a guy.
"Who?" Kimi asked in a tone of shock she could not hide.
"The cyborg!" Lia exclaimed. Then realizing she'd said it out loud, she blushed and then positioned herself on the lower bed beside Kimi. "I was just really curious if I could somehow trigger a change of expression on his face!"
Kimi burst out laughing. "And?"
"It didn't work," Lia said, disappointed.
Kimi giggled, but deep inside she wondered how those luscious lips would feel on her own lips. Grinning, she asked, “So? What was it like?”
"It felt like kissing a rock," Lia said, looking disgusted.
"Well, at least it's a handsome rock," Kimi pointed out.
"Yeah, and it was only my second kiss too," Lia said. "But at least now I have my answer. These cyborgs have undergone so much change that they lost most of their humanity. How sad and boring!"
Kimi did not say anything, but she secretly wondered if the problem was more that Lee 5 had just become so accustomed to his security work. Maybe it would take some time before he actually loosened up and showed his human side.
"Well, anyway, I really hope we can sleep later without having to be strapped to the beds just to keep us from floating," Lia said with a sigh. "I feel like a zombie!"
Kimi tittered. "I know, right? But I think we can turn on the gravitational pull machine any time now."
"Cool," Lia replied. "That's definitely one great invention!"
"Well, at least we don't have to wear our helmets all the time like in the old astronaut videos that were recovered after the explosion on Earth."
"Yes, that is definitely good," Lia agreed, her hand flying to her braided hair.
***
That afternoon, Lee 5 was inspecting the ship’s laboratory when Kimi entered.
"Don't you ever rest?" Kimi asked curiously, taking a seat at the center table. She watched him open drawers and examine the contents, and feel underneath the counters for anything amiss. Kimi couldn’t help admiring the way his muscles flexed underneath his navy blue uniform. Ned, Lee 5’s roommate, had said the cyborg even slept in that uniform. Kimi wondered if he ever took it off…and if she could ever convince him to take it off for her.
"I rest at night when it is time to sleep," Lee 5 answered without glancing back at her.
"So that makes you human, too," Kimi said, her eyes moving down to his full butt as he bent over to run his hands o
ver the bottom part of the walls. His feet hovered above the ground as he bent down. Unintentionally, she found herself picturing him completely naked in the exact same position. She was still fantasizing about him when he suddenly turned around and looked at her curiously. His intense gaze, combined with her lascivious thoughts, made her face feel hot.
"Why are you blushing?" he asked, making her squirm and mentally reprimand herself for fantasizing about this unfeeling cyborg.
"I'm not," Kimi answered defensively. She stood up and floated over to the desk where she powered on the hologram computer. A see-through image immediately appeared in front of her and she used her fingers to maneuver through the icons until she got to the video file that showed the Earth's terrain and talked about various species of plants found on the planet.
"That's interesting." Lee 5's voice came from behind her, making her jump and turn around. Her breath caught in her throat as she found herself gazing up into his dark, mysterious eyes. His face remained impassive, yet his eyes held a different story altogether. They seemed to be burning into hers, igniting a dangerous passion inside of her. Their very close proximity was making her heart beat faster and her blood run wild.
"I didn't know you could be interested in anything beyond the security matters you were trained to focus on," Kimi said, trying to keep her voice steady despite the rising intensity within her body.
"I am interested in a lot of other things that have nothing to do with my role as a security officer," he said matter-of-factly before turning around and walking out of the laboratory.
What did he mean by that? Kimi thought as she was left to contemplate his words and feel excited about the prospect of hooking up with him. She loved challenges and instigating a reaction from an actual cyborg seemed like a very stimulating challenge.
At that moment, Lia barged into the laboratory. "I'm bored!" she declared, going straight to the computer desk beside Kimi and working on geeky, odd-looking computer programming stuff on the hologram screen. Kimi put on the tiny wireless earphones so she could continue to review the videos of Planet Earth while Lia furiously typed away.
Later on, though, Kimi's attention was caught when she glimpsed the logo of the Police Community on top of the screen. A list of names appeared and Lia clicked on one. The photo of a dark-skinned, fine-looking man emerged, along with a short description and a couple of statistics about him.
Kimi removed her earphones. "Hey, Lia, what's that?"
Lia grinned, her eyes twinkling mischievously beneath her thick-rimmed glasses. Maybe she wasn’t quite the dull, nerdy person Kimi had thought. "I'm just having some fun," she said, snickering. "I've broken into the cyborg files of The Dome's security."
"What?"
"Yup," Lia confirmed with a mischievous smile. "Come take a look at their past lives!"
Kimi looked over Lia’s shoulder as they read about a dark-skinned cyborg's former human existence as an animal trainer. They had utilized his skills to enable him to handle various creatures that could possibly hurt humans.
Lia then made a wiping gesture to get to the next file. It showed a Caucasian who looked like he was in his fifties already. His file said that he had previously worked as a scientist and had gotten caught making bombs illegally. Therefore, the Police had turned him into a cyborg to take advantage of his knowledge and experience with bombs.
"So that's what happened to that guy…" Kimi said thoughtfully as she recalled hearing about one of her dad’s former teammates in the Science Community getting arrested.
"Dinner is served!" Raissa's voice suddenly called from outside the laboratory.
"Oh, great!" Lia said excitedly. "I'm famished! Let's go, Kimi!"
"Uh, go ahead," Kimi said, an idea forming in her mind. "I'll turn off these machines. Just want to finish watching this video."
"Okay," Lia replied with a smile before heading out.
Once Kimi was left by herself, she hurriedly tapped the word "List" to get back to the list of cyborgs. When she found Lee 5's name, she opened the file and instantly found herself looking at his handsome face. He seemed a bit younger in the photo, but she was more interested in his past.
Scanning through the description, she gasped as she discovered that he had actually been a male escort! She didn't even know male escorts existed in their modern world. But apparently, they had surreptitious identities and were spread out in various communities within The Dome to answer to the needs of mostly older women who yearned for company and sexual pleasure.
"A male escort…" she whispered out loud, a stirring beginning in her loins again as her imagination brought her indecent images of Lee 5 making love to different women. This little piece of information excited her in ways she could not fathom. Such a history would have made him an expert in bed.
As she continued to read, she also found out that he had been captured by the Police because of a clandestine job that was highly considered immoral and was not to be tolerated in The Dome. His experience with women had given him an edge as the only cyborg who could efficiently deal with female criminals, alien or human. He was more knowledgeable than others on how women's minds operated.
Kimi gulped, worried that he was able to read her. Now she was even more challenged to trigger a human response from him. She only wanted to do one thing before they landed on Earth. She intended to use every bit of her sexual prowess to seduce him.
***
Another day had passed. Kimi was grateful that she and the others were starting to be good friends. However, she was getting frustrated trying to flirt with the seemingly unaffected cyborg.
After a fun-filled dinner with the rest of the team, Lia and Ned, who had become quite close, locked themselves in the bedroom Lia shared with Kimi.
"I can't believe them!" Kimi muttered. She wasn’t so upset about their rendezvous; after all, she had discovered in just few days that Ned had a boring personality and would probably bore her in bed. So yes, he and Lia were welcome to have all the sex they wanted…she’d have to ask them to figure out alternate bedroom arrangements, though, because now she was without a bunk.
Then again, there was a free bunk on the ship. Ned’s, in fact—and he shared a room with Lee 5.
Kimi went to the bathroom to put on some red lipstick and ruffle her brown hair for a messy, seductive look. Dressed in a silky, button-down pajama set, she took one look at her reflection, opened two more buttons to reveal her cleavage, and knew that she was ready for her mission.
She was standing outside the door of the bedroom that Ned and Lee 5 shared, contemplating if she could actually pull off a headache act and feign the lady-in-distress bit, when the door unexpectedly opened.
Her eyes widened as Lee 5 stared at her indifferently.
"Hello," she said uneasily, suddenly at a loss for words.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Um. Can I come in?" she asked. "My bedroom's locked."
Without any reaction, he opened the door further and let her in. "Have a seat."
She was surprised he didn't even ask what she wanted. She plopped down on the lower bed and immediately caught a whiff of his delicious scent from the pillows. "Is this your bed?" she wondered aloud.
He nodded, standing by the closed door. "I don’t sleep in it much.”
“Do you sleep at all?”
“Yes, but I wake up very early. It’s difficult to rest when I worry for the ship’s well-being."
“Is Ned a good roommate?”
“He’s adequate.”
"Really," she said, crossing her legs. She should have taken off her pajamas before coming but she had been afraid someone else might see her. "But Ned's busy tonight."
"He's in your room with Lia?"
Kimi nodded, her body starting to heat up. She longed for him to lay her down on this bed and kiss her all over.
And as if he'd read her mind, he suddenly moved toward her and placed his hands against the wall behind her, trapping her. An image of his cyborg file flashed in her
mind and she remembered that he was well-experienced in reading women. Maybe he also wanted her like she wanted him. That thought excited her, causing immense heat to pool between her legs.
"What do you really want, Kimi?" he said casually, folding his muscular arms in front of his chest. He was, as always, wearing his security uniform.
What the hell, Kimi thought. There's no use pretending. She stood up and planted herself right under his nose, her eyes burning into his as she did. She grabbed each of his arms and gently wrapped them around her waist. He still seemed passive, but she was nevertheless aroused by his touch and their closeness.
To her disbelief, he pulled her closer, not breaking their intense gaze. "You want me," he said unemotionally.
She nodded. At that moment, his gaze moved down to her breasts which were now heaving with passion, eager to be freed. Then he quickly raised his eyes to her lips. And before she knew it, they were kissing.
He caressed her back, the heat of his hands penetrating the thin fabric of her top. Her lips locked with his in a kiss that increased with fervor and desire by the second. She tasted his lips with her tongue and he willingly opened his mouth to let her in. His tongue then met hers in a playful dance, escalating their heated craving for each other.
Just as his hands crept inside her shirt and cupped her breasts, an alarm began to wail. They jumped apart. In an instant, Lee 5 was gone, presumably to investigate the trouble. Kimi's desire turned to panic as she followed him.
She'd bolted out of Lee 5’s room at the same time that her own bedroom door had opened. Lia threw her an astonished look before she and Ned moved forward.
Raissa immediately emerged from the cockpit. "Don't worry, guys. It's a false alarm. We hit some detritus from a demolished space station, but it didn't cause damage."
"Whew," Lia said in relief, her hand intertwined with Ned's. That detail certainly caught Kimi's attention. She didn't know whether to be shocked or happy for them. It seemed as if something deeper was developing between them, and she decided to be happy.
Meanwhile, Lee 5 was still wearing his blank, professional expression. He went to the makeshift kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water.